Gundam 00: Heaven Strike Force
by RertyanTheDark
Summary: AU ignoring the movie One year after the fall of Ribbons Almark. A new mobile suit arrives at the Ptolemaios II and brings shocking news of the plans Aiolia Schenberg had in store that even Veda did not know of. Features some pairings, mild use of harsh language, mechanical violence in places. Please be constructive with criticism, full summary within.
1. Phase I

_**Spoilers: **Takes place following the series 2 finale, but ignores the events of the movie altogether, so technical AU following the end of series 2._

_**Warnings: **Violence, destruction and language may be applied through, possible scenes of romantic intent also enclosed. Spoiler potential stated previously. You have been warned._

_**Pairing(s):**__Saji x Louise, Setsuna x Marina, Feldt x OC, others possible_

_**Brief: **One year after the fall of Ribbons Almark, as Setsuna begins to become used to his abilities as an innovator-human hybrid, Celestial Being continues to perform its armed interventions against the Earth Sphere Federation. However, the arrival of a strange new mobile suit at the Ptolemaios II throws the armed force into disarray as it brings the shocking news of secrets Aiolia Schenberg had hidden so well that not even Veda knew them._

* * *

**Mobile Suit Gundam 00**

**Heaven Strike Force**

It had been a difficult year for Celestial Being; following the defeat of Ribbons Almark, and the resulting dismantlement of the A-Laws by a reformed Earth Sphere Federation, it had been decided that the Meisters would go their separate ways, as would Celestial Being as a whole, to await a time when Earth would need them once more. However, after only a few months, the corrupt ideals of man had reared its head again as the Earth Sphere Federation reconfigured its military forces. From the Federation Defence Force, the regular armed forces, came a break off group known as the Heaven Strike Force, a division specialising in cutting-edge technology and advanced mobile suit construction. Heaven Strike Force reportedly attempted to build prototype GN drives of their own, resulting in an uproar across the world, and giving Celestial Being a reason to return to action.

Despite the advanced technology going into the new breed of machines, the Gundams had not changed. The repairs to all five existing Gundams were extensive, but Cherudim, Seravee, Seraphim and Arios were fully repaired and slightly upgraded. The 00 Gundam was different, however; due to the battle between the 0 Gundam and Exia, the 0 Gundam's GN drive was heavily damaged, beyond the point of full restoration. As a result, 00 could not be entirely restored, but it was fixed up as best as possible, with constant repairs scheduled in the year ahead.

* * *

In the inky blackness of space, far above even the tall orbital elevators and high-orbital ring which extended high above the Earth's surface, a flurry of green energy flowed behind a lone unit, its engines working a low revolutions to save expending too many particles from the mighty machine. The left shoulder drive sputtered a little as it propelled the mighty machine through the area known as Lagrange 2. The pilot's own eyes pulsed with energy under the purpled visor.

"Systems read normal," the young man said, double checking the data on the screen. "GN particle dispersal holding at thirteen percent." The engine sputtered again. "The 0 Gundam's drive seems unstable at low revolutions, increasing particle dispersal to thirty percent capability."

"Don't go overboard, Setsuna," came a gruff reply. "We can't guarantee the safety of the Twin Drive until we've finished analysing 00's drives."

"Roger," Setsuna replied. "Increasing revolutions of the Twin Drive now."

As if responding to the pilot's wishes, the machine's eyes flared once, a blizzard of energised particles flowing rapidly out behind the mecha. The drive stopped sputtering and began to work as normal once more. With a sigh of relief, Setsuna began to manoeuvre rapidly, diving through the emptiness of the surrounding area with great ease. On board the Celestial Being mothership, everyone held their breath while 00 operated under Setsuna's experienced touch. On the bridge, the tactical forecaster watched her screen carefully as the machine tested itself alone. She smiled, satisfied with the output of the Twin Drive and its stability.

"Ok, Setsuna," she announced. "That's enough for now. Bring 00 into hangar 1."

"Roger," Setsuna replied. "00 Gundam, returning to-" He stopped, spotting something in his visual display, the proximity alarm going off. "What's this? Miss Sumeragi, there's another machine here."

"Return to Ptolemy, Setsuna," Sumeragi replied. "00 isn't equipped to fight another mobile suit just yet." She turned to the pink-haired operator to her right. "Feldt, dispatch Arios and the GN Archer as soon as possible; if there is a machine out there, we must remove any chances of it attacking us or 00."

"Roger that," the girl nodded, bringing up the launch data. "Launching Archer Arios from hangar 1. Control to Arios."

"I have control," the pilot announced from the cockpit of the combined winged Gundam. "Archer Arios, Allelujah Haptism and Marie Parfacy, launching!"

The linear catapult latched upon the underside of the vessel shot forward, detaching from the dock within the Ptolemy and taking off with immense speed towards the 00 Gundam and the machine nearby. As Archer Arios flew towards the machines, 00 began towards Ptolemaios, only to find the unknown machine was following it.

"What the hell?" Setsuna growled. "It's just following me? Why hasn't it fired on 00 if it has the chance?" The vessel's crest began flashing bright white in Setsuna's display. "A light signal? To check..." His eyes widened. "Gundam support line 7? How would they know of our emergency lines?" The signal repeated once, twice. After the third repeat, Setsuna caved and switched his radio frequency. A voice crackled through the speakers.

"...ou hear me?" it said. "Please, Gundam pilot, respond. Can you hear me?"

"Unidentified mobile unit," Setsuna growled. "Identify yourself and stop your advance."

"I can't do that," the voice replied. "Please, I know that your mothership is in the area. I'm sending you my machine's code and callsign now. I'm requesting docking permission for Ptolemy II." Setsuna blinked as the information was sent.

"How did-" he started, but his words cut short as the information came up. The machine's model number and name coming up on-screen. "GN-00X1 and GNR-00Z3. It's a combined unit?" By this time, Setsuna had stopped 00 and was able to see the machine clearly for himself. It was pitch black with red markings over it, the form of a ship of sorts becoming clear as it neared. "The model is clearly of a Gundam, but not one I have ever encountered. Who are you?"

"My machine is known as Reaper X," the pilot of the machine replied. "Now, 00 pilot, I have to ask you to connect me to your ship; I'm not sure how much longer I can use this craft without damaging it or myself."

A shot of pink energy flew over the hull of the machine, a warning shot from the new arrival of Archer Arios. Allelujah looked over to Setsuna and sighed.

"What is he doing now?" he grumbled. "Marie, ready the Archer's beam rifles for second volley."

"Roger," the supersoldier confirmed, preparing the weapons specified.

"Setsuna, we're here to deal with the unknown," Allelujah said, sending his message over the radio.

"Hey, there's no need to be so hostile!" the voice from Reaper X called. Allelujah flinched a moment, but the voice spoke again before he could. "Look, patch me through to Ptolemaios II; I wish to speak to Sumeragi Lee Noriega."

"Hey, you're in no position to-" Allelujah started, but Setsuna cut him off, placing the 00 between Archer Arios and Reaper X.

"Connecting you now," the Innovator hybrid informed the unknown pilot. "Miss Sumeragi, the unknown wants to talk to you. Model number GN-00X1 with GNR-00Z3, machine name Reaper X."

"GN-00X1?" Lasse asked, looking to Sumeragi. "Is that a new model from the Federation?"

The brown-haired woman's eyes were wide as she heard this; she looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Sumeragi Lee Noriega," the voice came over Ptolemy's speakers. "I am the Meister of the Gundam Reaper X. I would like to request permission to dock with Ptolemy to allow myself time to restore my machine. Do I have your approval?"

"What should we do?" Mileina asked the forecaster anxiously. The older woman clicked her tongue as she thought.

"The likelihood of a Federation unit having that number is extremely low," she replied. "Reaper X pilot, you have permission to land in hangar three. 00 and Archer Arios will escort you; if you attempt to attack Ptolemy, or attempt to divert from the set course, we will not hesitate to shoot your unit down."

"Understood," the pilot replied. "Following assigned course now." The line cut out. Feldt and Mileina exchanged uncertain glances with one another. Lasse looked over his shoulder to Sumeragi.

"Are you sure this is the right decision?" he asked. "We don't know that he is who he says he is, or even what the fighting ability of his mobile suit is."

"Yes, I'm certain it is the right choice," Sumeragi nodded. "Bring us to point three seven nine and reduce engines to balanced orbit."

"Roger, full thrust to three seven nine," Lasse confirmed. Sumeragi looked away.

_GN-00X1,_ she thought. _And GNR-00Z3... could it be that they are still at work? And if so, where have they been hiding for all this time?_ As she pondered these questions, a spree of green particles lit up the distance as the two Gundams escorting the newcomer neared the ship once more. The docking lasers for hangars 1 and 3 lit up as Reaper X and 00 both docked into the ship, followed by Archer Arios in hangar 1. With all three units docked, Setsuna, Allelujah and Marie exited their mobile suits while the crew of the great carrier headed for hangar 3 to meet the machine. Because of his proximity to the hangar, and the fact he had docked first, Setsuna arrived first.

In the light of the hangar, Setsuna could clearly see the machine as its engines stopped. The hull was pitch black with red arcs and tribal markings dotted over the ebony. The machine was very long, clearly a docked fighter-based support unit, such as the 0 Raiser, combined with a winged mobile suit, much like Arios. The body was chipped, dented and had some particularly bad scratches throughout. His thoughts turned to the engines, which were clearly GN drives of sorts, the cones on the rear of the machine and the two boost arms on the back giving that much away, but he realised that there had been no visible particles from the exhaust ports, neither the green of the original GN drive, nor the red of the more common pseudo counterparts.

"What kind," he wondered aloud. "Of machine is this?"

The doors behind him slid open as his fellow Meisters, Tieria Erde and Lockon Stratos, arrived, followed moments later by Allelujah and Marie.

"This machine," Tieria said, his eyes holding concern. "It's not on Veda's database of developed mobile suits of the Earth Sphere Federation, nor does it exist under the prototype schematics of the Gundams, not even the Gundam Thrones."

"So, not even Veda knew this thing existed," Lockon mused, noticing the number of drives. "That's a lot of GN drives for a machine of this size; its not like it would need the extra power of three additional drives."

"It's overkill, it's overkill," the orange Haro in Lockon's hands agreed.

Again the doors slid open, revealing the tactical operators, the helmsman, the tactical forecaster, and the technician of the ship. Sumeragi stepped forward to be beside the cockpit of the machine, ignoring Ian's protests. As if sensing what she was going to do, Setsuna walked forward to join her.

"You can come out now," she announced clearly. Silence, then, with a hiss as the cockpit sprung open, a plume of white steam rushing passed the hatch as the metal panel rose upwards. A small silhouette popped out into the low gravity of the room, floating upwards and away from the machine.

The sphere turned to the crew, its blue eyes flashing as its black ear-like flaps pivoted, moving it towards the gantry where everyone stood. The Haro was black in colour but had crimson streaks curved over the top of the device, sharpening to a point underneath the middle dividing line and covering the outside of the eyes easily. On the flaps on the top and bottom hemispheres were four red markings spiralled into a darker red central point. The Haro also had the digits 'T3X' painted on its front. The machine spotted the group and began to speak.

"Greetings, greetings," it said in a mechanical, not overly interesting voice; it sounded like a mechanised version of the stereotypical nerd. The orange Haro with Lockon began to respond.

"Brother! Brother!" it chirped, but the black Haro seemed to ignore it.

"All clear! All clear!" it called to no one in particular. As soon as it had spoken, a hand emerged over the edge of the cockpit opening. The figure within pulled themselves out of the cockpit, jumping off and heading for the gantry.

"Alright, Tex, settle down," the person, a man, said. His feet soon reached the gantry. "Sorry, it's been a while since he's seen new people."

"Um, that's quite alright," Sumeragi replied, still surprised that the figure was stood there and did not seem hostile.

The man stood taller than Setsuna but a little shorter than Lockon, his flight suit black with the same red markings from his machine. Even his helmet matched the machine he piloted, though a blacked-out visor hid his face from view. The flight suit showed the person to have a defined, muscular body. He raised his hand to the helmet and clicked the right side, the visor lightening to a smoky translucent screen, though his face was still heavily obscured until he removed it entirely moments later. A couple of quiet gasps sounded as they saw his face; the eyes shining red for a few moments before darkening to brown. The Caucasian man's hair was quiet short and dark brown, and his jaw had a collection of dark stubble upon it. The man looked around the group, then smiled a little to them all.

"Sorry, I never introduced myself, did I?" he observed. "My codename is Rertyan Darkspire, the man born of shadow. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"I am Sumeragi Lee Noriega, tactical forecaster for Ptolemy," Sumeragi returned smiling.

"Yes, I am familiar with your perception abilities," Rertyan smiled. "It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Miss Sumeragi."

"So, what brings you to Lagrange 2?" Lasse asked, a little sceptical.

"That is why I came to your ship," Rertyan replied. "I'm sorry to do this, but I need your help, Miss Sumeragi. It's not an easy task, I must warn you, but I cannot do it alone, especially in a machine such as my Gundam." The woman nodded to Rertyan, understanding from his tone that it was something important.

"Alright," she replied. "Come to the debriefing room with me; we will discuss it there."

"Thank you," Rertyan bowed slightly before leaving the room, his Haro close behind. Miss Sumeragi turned to the others gathered there.

"Lasse, take Ptolemy to Lagrange 3 to meet with Linda and the technical transport ship," she informed the helmsman, who nodded and head out of the room to the bridge. "Feldt, Mileina, go help him man the defences; there may be Federation Defence Force units in the area." Feldt uttered a quick 'roger' while Mileina grinned with a jovial hum before both followed Lasse. "Ian, check the hardware of this machine; find out everything you can about it." The technician nodded and set to work. That left only the Meisters and Marie with Miss Sumeragi. "The rest of you, come with me to the debriefing room. It's about time we found out a little bit about our guest."

The group headed out, except for Setsuna, who gazed at the machine docked only a short distance away from him.

"Reaper X Gundam," he mused aloud as he turned away. "What else has been hidden from us?"

* * *

_I hope you guys and girls liked that beginning. I will be working on this story amongst my other ongoing works, so updates may be slow._

_For now, let me know what you all thought of this chapter, as it is my first for this series. Any feedback would be appreciate._

_Bye for now, everyone!_


	2. Phase II

**Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Heaven Strike Force**

**Phase II**

The debriefing room was silent as the Meisters and forecaster waited for the newest arrival to explain the nature of the mission of he had in mind. Setsuna glared slightly at the elder man, while he cocked his head, confused by the young pilot's actions.

"What's wrong?" Rertyan asked, puzzled. "I haven't even said anything."

"That's the point," Setsuna replied gruffly, maintaining his glare. "You have not said a word since we reached this room." Rertyan nodded, smiling.

"I guess I was waiting for a prompt," he admitted. "Since that doesn't seem to be what you want, I'll just start anyway." The black-suited man tapped a hidden button on his right glove, a micro-disc ejecting from a secret drive within the glove. "I should probably explain about my machine before it throws further questions up. It would probably save Mr Vashti some time for me to show you the technical schematics."

Sumeragi seemed surprised by his remark, knowing he was aware of her order to Ian. Rertyan entered the disc into the projector on the table, a device used to show the flight recordings of a machine to gauge what had happened and jog a person's memory of an experience. Instantly, the room darkened as a blue screen was projected up, showing a wire mesh model of Rertyan's machine.

"As I have eluded to before," he explained. "Reaper X is a dual machine, much like the 00 Raiser. It separates into a transformable Gundam, the GN-00X1 Reaper Gundam, and its support machine, the GNR-00Z3 X Cloak, hence Reaper X when combined." The screen flickered to a fighter-like machine which slowly transformed into a bipedal machine. "Reaper is powered by a standard GN Drive, which we have 'supercharged' to improve power output and reliability. This results in the black GN particles which, no doubt, the 00's pilot noticed." Setsuna nodded, knowing what the man meant. "It's an experimental set up which is, so far, proving successful."

"If I may?" Lockon interrupted. "I was under the impression that only five original GN Drives existed." The sniper glanced around, noticing that Tieria also looked sceptical.

"As was I," the Innovade agreed, his eyes pulsing as he linked to the great supercomputer. "Veda's databases do not mention any additional drives. It clearly states that the only active original drives are those of Exia, Dynames, Kyurios, Nadleeh and the 0 Gundam." Rertyan smirked.

"Those are the drives which are participating actively in armed interventions," he replied. "It doesn't specify that there are only five in existence. No, in reality there are only seven original drives; the five you possess, and the one I possess. The seventh was lost a long time ago, however." Allelujah frowned at this.

"How do you lose a GN drive?" he asked. Rertyan's expression darkened, but he ignored the question.

"I was on a test run to confirm the linkages," he went on. "When I was attacked by one of Heaven Strike Force's new models, the Ravager GN-X. That's why I came here.

"You see, we have been working alongside Celestial Being from the shadows, introducing systems and technology into newer forms to test their applications. Lately, we've been trying to improve the Twin Drive, which is why we have not been updating Veda's secondary log cache. The facility may be in danger, however; the Ravager unit doubled back to a mother ship, and may have followed my projected signature to it.

"I understand if you don't trust me," he added. "Hell, if a strange bloke appeared from nowhere with Gundam technology and claimed to be part of a shadow organisation working with Veda, I'd be kind of suspicious too, especially after the Trinity situation a few years ago." Tieria's eyes narrowed at this, remembering how much havoc it played on their troops, and how it had left an ally with an injury which proved to be his undoing. "But please believe, I do need your help."

"How can we be sure we can trust you?" Setsuna asked, but any response was cut off by an alarm sounding all over the ship.

"Miss Sumeragi, the medium proximity sensors have detected a Heaven Strike Force carrier-class nearby," Mileina's voice announced over the intercom. "Silhouette identifies it as a variant of the Human Reform League carriers, approximately fifteen mobile suit capacity."

"Out here?" the forecaster questioned. "They must be looking for us."

"I may be more to blame," Rertyan admitted. "The Ravager probably belongs to that ship." Miss Sumeragi was not really listening to Rertyan.

"Tieria, man Ptolemy's cannon controls; Seravee won't be needed here," she started giving people their orders. The Innovade nodded before heading off. "Allelujah, Marie, get ready to launch in Archer Arios; you will form the front-line offensive in this battle. Lockon, hold near Ptolemy in Cherudim as back up; protect our blind spot."

"I'm on it," the sniper nodded, heading out behind Marie and Allelujah. Miss Sumeragi turned her attention to Setsuna, catching his shoulder as he was about to leave too.

"Setsuna, I want you to stay here and help man the defence systems." The young Innovator blinked in surprise, but she went on. "00 is not ready for combat yet, and we don't have the 0 Raiser either."

"So I'm supposed to sit here and wait?" the young man asked. "They will need someone with close-combat capabilities in this fight; I have to launch."

"And I'm saying no," Miss Sumeragi said firmly. "If we lose 00 in a fight like this, we will be a sitting duck."

"Might I make a suggestion?" Rertyan asked, having stood up from the table and come over to the two of them as they talked. Miss Sumeragi nodded, prompting him to continue. "Let me go out in Setsuna's place; it will give me a chance to show you what Reaper can do. The power linkages between it and the X Cloak may not be fully functional, but I assure you that Reaper does."

Miss Sumeragi thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright," she conceded. "We could use the extra machine. But mark my words; should you attack any of the Gundams or try to run, we will shoot you down." Rertyan smiled, picking up TEX and his helmet.

"I don't doubt that," he replied, heading towards hangar 3.

Reluctantly, Setsuna headed after Tieria, who was surprised when the Innovator arrived and took the console beside him. Even so, he said nothing on the matter, focussing solely on the task at hand. At the same time, Miss Sumeragi had reached the bridge, taking her seat at the central position.

"Any new developments?" she asked the operators to either side of the room.

"The enemy vessel has launched depth charges and spacial mines behind them to ensure we can't pass," Mileina replied, bringing up more data. "It's getting ready to deploy its mobile suits."

"Cherudim is ready for launch from deck 2," Feldt said as the catapults opened and unfurled. "GN Archer and Arios are also ready to deploy. Increasing catapult voltage to seven-thirty in decks 1 and 3, four hundred in deck 2. Control has been transferred to Gundams. You are all clear for launch."

"Arios, Allelujah Haptism, intercepting target!" The winged Gundam launched from the mother ship, transforming into its fighter form the moment it was released.

"GN Archer, Marie Parfacy, moving to intercept!" The red unit quickly caught up to and docked with Arios, accelerating together towards their targets.

"Cherudim, Lockon Stratos, targeted and firing!" The green unit shot forwards briefly, before then ascending to take a vantage over the attacking forces.

The lift of deck 3 brought the next unit up to the catapult as decks 1 and 2 resealed themselves. Inside the cockpit, Rertyan entered some codes into the controls, bringing up a visual link to the pink-haired operator. He blinked, seeing her properly for the first time.

"I'm sending my information for you to input into your systems," he said, trying to cover his surprise.

"R-right," Feldt nodded, taking by surprise herself. The new information came up obediently. "Increasing voltage to eight hundred. Course clear. Timing transferred to Reaper X."

"I have control," Rertyan confirmed, priming the engines. "Reaper X, Rertyan Darkspire and TEX, obscuring the light!"

The combined unit launched towards the battleground as the first signs of particle beams became evident. In the midst of the battle, the captain of the Heaven Strike Force ship gazed out of the cockpit. The two front-mounted cannons were trying to nail the Arios before it could stop them deploying the mobile suit team on board. The man had grey hair and green eyes, under the left of which lay a scar; a single laceration which curved from above his brow, passed his eye and curled underneath his jawline, missing his mouth by a millimetre. His chin was free of stubble as he gazed over the battlefield, watching Arios dodge another blast with a sigh.

"The winged one is faster than we can shoot," one of the subordinates commented, surprised by the manoeuvrability of the machine. "It sure is a good machine."

"Tell me, Corporal," the commander said, his eyes falling upon the hapless subordinate. "If this your first time seeing a Gundam?" The man looked surprised by the commander's sudden words, but nodded all the same. "This is not the most impressive machine Celestial Being own; this one is impressive, but their trump card, as it were, is much more."

"Do you mean the double-powered one, Colonel Ovechkin?" another subordinate asked. The Colonel nodded.

"Indeed I am," he replied. "Now, I think we have admired it for long enough; deploy the GN-X units immediately."

"Yes sir!" the Corporal at the control desk replied, typing in the launch release codes. "Opening hatches; all GN-X III's, deploy! GN-X Ravager, deploy! Target the enemy Gundams, then the mothership!"

Almost instantly, the e-sensors on Ptolemy flared their warnings.

"Detecting enemy mobile suits," Mileina said, bringing up the information. "Twelve GN-X 609-T's, three GN-X 609-HT's, and..." Her eyes widened. "It's a new model; identity GN-X 753-R!"

"Sixteen suits?" Lasse questioned. "That can't be right from one of those ships."

"The new model may have docked to the rear of the ship," Miss Sumeragi replied, altering her forecasts with this new data. "Lockon, proceed with strafing fire as dictated in plan 2C."

"Got it!" the man confirmed, unfolding the GN Sniper Rifle to its full length and targeting accordingly to split the forces. "Here we go, Haro."

"Commence mission! Commence mission!" the orange sphere practically chirped as it waved its 'ears' enthusiastically.

The blast of pink energy darted forward, taking the left arm of one of the 609-T's and entirely destroying another. The remaining suits spread out, trying to avoid any follow-up volleys, but Lockon moved his aim, firing another blast to funnel them towards fire-line of the waiting GN Archer's beam cannons. The blasts neared the waiting 609-T's with blinding speed, but the attacks would never hit.

"No you don't!" came a shout as the new model dived into place between the shots and the GN-X units, its left arm raised over its chest as a GN shield formed around the front of the machine, entirely absorbing the blasts. "Take this!" It raised its right arm to the GN Archer, firing the twin-barrelled beam rifle on the outside of the arm.

Quickly changing to mobile-armour state, Marie moved the GN Archer away from the shots, evading the hits as they came her way.

"Damn," she cursed. "This guy's good."

She looked back to the machine, the GN-X 753-R, observing its looks; the machine resembled the standard GN-X III but with a less-bulky form of the lower body and a modified head so that the central bead above the eyes was not visible. The arms were entirely different, however; they were notably bulkier than the originals, most likely due to their equipment, and sported two missile pods on the shoulders. The left arm housed a physical shield which opened to form a front-facing GN field, as it had proved moments before, the outer edges and central panel opening outwards to release the particles of the field. The right arm held the twin rifle on the outer edge, along with an extension to the back of the arm for reasons Marie could not fathom at that moment. The scarlet machine trained its barrels on the GN Archer, firing again in another attempt to hit Marie's machine.

From afar, the black machine drifted through the void, observing the machine as it revealed the extent of its abilities; the 609-T's and their more heavily-armed counterparts, the 609-HT's, were not a problem, as their abilities were already well known, but the Ravager was problematic due to its lack of data. Rertyan watched as it fired at the GN Archer, Arios busy with the squadrons of GN-X III's and Cherudim providing cover from afar. Finally, he cracked his neck and flexed his fingers.

"Alright, looks like the X Cloak will be more of a hindrance than a help," he decided. "TEX, prepare separation procedure, I'm taking Reaper in alone."

"Copy, copy," the Haro confirmed the order. "X Cloak separating, X Cloak separating."

The machine began to shift, the join between the two ship-type mobile weapons splitting as the cockpit of the X Cloak lifted away from Reaper's chassis. The phlanges of the nose-cone opened up as the docking clamps released, allowing the machines to part ways, the back end of Reaper coming out of the X Cloak. With Reaper clear, the nose shut and the cockpit dropped back into place, the front end sliding backwards to fill the gap left from Reaper's exit.

"X Cloak awaiting orders," TEX confirmed the separation.

"Go help Cherudim cover Ptolemy, TEX," Rertyan said, changing his machine into flight mode, the wings moving into their extended layout, pivoting on a hidden pin within the machine. Two tail-fins lifted up as Rertyan finished his orders to Tex. "Keep an eye out for stragglers."

"Understood," the drone agreed, the X Cloak moving under its will to a position beneath Ptolemy.

Back with Arios, Allelujah fired another barrage of missiles at the tailing GN-X's, taking out another pair and disabling a third. One of the 609-HT's fired a pair of missiles at the machine, but the winged Gundam easily evaded and shot down the projectiles, but he was getting concerned for his missile reserve.

"I wasn't expecting them to be this manoeuvrable," the two-tone eyes supersoldier noted, eyeing his ammunition display. "At this rate, I'll run out of missiles before I get rid of three quarters of them. In that case..."

He used Arios' mid-air transformation and high manoeuvrability to spin Arios around in its robot form, using its beam weapons to try and destroy the machines without losing more missiles. However, as his rapid-fire blaster launched a barrage at the tailing GN-X's, the Ravager stood between them, the GN Field absorbing the blows as if they were rain against a window. Gritting his teeth, the Meister changed form again, trying to think of a new plan while dodging a burst of missiles fired from the Ravager's shoulders.

From the bridge of the Heaven Strike Force's carrier, Colonel Ovechkin watched with a smile as the new machine performed against the Gundams, the advanced technology throwing them into disorder from their usual capability.

"This should be over soon," he murmured reassuringly. The Corporal from before gasped and turned to the man.

"Colonel! It's coming!" he called.

"What are you talking about, Corporal Anderson?" a warrant officer barked. "Make some sense!"

"That model the GN-X 753-R encountered before," Anderson replied. "The machine seems to have separated and is heading for the Ravager!"

"Inform the pilot," the Colonel ordered. "It must have been waiting for the Ravager to show its power."

In the battlefield, the Ravager's pilot laughed as another shot grazed the GN Archer.

"Ha!" he roared enthusiastically. "Is that the best Celestial Being can do?!"

"Sergeant Hale," the radio sputtered out. "The new model you sighted before is heading for your machine."

"It's what?!" the man asked as a series of red blasts struck the shield on his machine. Marie gazed in the direction of fire and spotted the red and black fighter-like machine heading their way.

"Is that..." she started, but a visual link cut her off.

"Miss Parfacy," Rertyan said over the link. "Go help Mr Haptism with the others; I have something of a score to settle with this machine."

Knowing the GN Archer had little ability to fight this machine, Marie nodded and moved swiftly for the orange machine. The Ravager turned to shoot at the red machine, but fire from Reaper drew his attention back to the attacking pilot. The Sergeant returned fire, using his twin blaster to fire heavy shot with twice the ordinary speed, but the manoeuvrability of Reaper trumped the fire-power. Hale gritted his teeth angrily.

"Damn bastard, hold still!" he roared, trying again but failing to land a hit. He snorted and activated his beam sabre. "Screw this; I'll clip your wings!" Rertyan's machine flew in close, and the sound of metal sheering copuld be heard as they passed by one another. "What the hell?!"

Hale stared at the now dismembered missile pod floating alongside his machine in disbelief. His gaze turned back to the winged form of the Gundam as it drifted before his machine, a blade glinting on the underside. Inside the cockpit, Rertyan smirked as he typed in the final button in sequence and the whole machine began to move and shake, changing shape into its robot form.

As it transformed, the cockpit retracted within the torso, the armour of the machine enclosing around the dome on the nose cone. The wings folded onto the back on either side of the GN Drive and onto the newly formed shoulder plating. The arms and legs unfolded from the main body, the blade sticking out of the armoured forearm at the ready. One final change finished the transformation, the head raising out of the body while the iconic yellow V-fin opened. The red eyes flashed once as the machines form came online.

Hale gawked at the machine, but quickly overcame his shock as the black machine lunged forward, a black-handled red beam sabre extended in its right hand. The orange energy blade in the Ravagers hand extended as Hale rushed forward, the two blades clashing forcefully against one another, creating a sparking of energy around their swords. Adding pressure to the Gundam assaulting him, Hale aimed his remaining missile pod at Reaper.

"Take this!" he yelled, pulling the trigger to launch the explosive projectiles at Reaper, but his attacks went wide as the left fist impacted the machines head, knocking it off balance. Hale growled. "Damn bastard!" Reaper moved to attack again, but Ravager was ready, raising its GN Field and intercepting the beam sabre and stopping the attack dead. "Pathetic; you'll never get through my GN Field! Now go to hell!"

"You first," Rertyan growled, pushing back from Ravager before charging in again.

The Ravagers GN Field sprung up again to block Reaper's right arm, but the shield did nothing to stop the attack coming for the Heaven Strike Force machine. The fist struck the field and slowly began to pass through, until the blade extended from the front of the fist pierced the central generator. The field wavered for a moment, before a flurry of red energy surrounded the sickle, creating a larger blade and piercing the entire arm. The energy influx caused the shield to sputter unstably as it began to overload. Rertyan smiled as he pulled back, knowing the arm was destined for destruction, while Hale growled again.

"Damn this guy," he muttered, engaging the prototype fail-safes in place in the machine. "Purge left arm!"

In response, the left shoulder plate split in two, exposing the joint which promptly separated through manner of explosive bolts within the hub, jettisoning the failing arm as it went critical and exploded. On the carrier vessel, the Earth Sphere's autonomous forces stared in amazement that their newest machine had lost its trump card. Ovechkin grimaced, taking control once again.

"All teams," he ordered. "Withdraw immediately; we cannot hope to win in this state."

"Roger that, Colonel," came the voice of the lead pilot of the GN-X 609-T's.

"Confirmed here too, sir," the lead pilot of the 609-HT's added shortly after. Hale gritted his teeth in anger.

"Confirmed," he growled, turning to Reaper once more. "You haven't seen the last of me, Gundam. You will pay; no one damages the machine of Desmond Hale and gets away with it!"

With this said, the man retreated, the detonated limbs scrap fragments the only signs that it had been there moments before. The Colonel dismissed himself from the bridge, intent on informing the Heaven Strike Force's lead personnel of this new machine, and its performances against their latest.

From on board Ptolemy, Miss Sumeragi gazed at the new machine, the menacing look it had against the backdrop of red GN particles, scrap metal and the void of space almost fitting for the name of the machine. She had expected it to perform, but was surprised by the skill the pilot possessed.

"Feldt," she said. "Have the Meisters return at once. Lasse, full speed to Lagrange 3."

"Yes, miss Sumeragi," the two confirmed.

"Mileina, I want you to help Ian repair the faults with Reaper," the forecaster went on. "If it performs that well on its own, it will be useful for us to get the combined system working."

"On it!" Mileina nodded, heading for deck three as the Gundams started to dock once more. The door slid open as Tieria and Setsuna entered. Miss Sumeragi turned to the Innovade.

"Did you see all that?" she asked. The purple haired man nodded.

"I did," he replied. "And I want to know more about the organisation who is behind its creation." Miss Sumeragi nodded in agreement.

"Come with me," she said, leading the Innovade towards the debriefing rooms.

On the bridge, Setsuna watched the black machine re-dock with its counterpart and line up to board the ship. After what he had seen, he started to wonder what else had been hidden from the small crew of the ship.

* * *

_Apologies for the lateness of this update; I'm a really bad juggler :/_

_I figured I would show Reaper's abilities in parts so as it not make it overkill for anyone reading._

_Colonel Ovechkin and Sergeant Hale will come back into this later in the story; they'll probably be a little like Sergei Smirnov and Graham Aker respectively._

_Also, I'll post a factfile about any new machines which will be frequently involved but perhaps not fully revealed, starting with none other than the Ravager._

* * *

_**Model GN-X 753-R**_

_**Nickname: **Ravager_

_**Manufacturer: **Earth Sphere Alliance_

_**Operator(s): **Heaven Strike Force_

_**Based on: **GN-X 609-T (GN-X III), GN-X 704-T (GN-X Ahead)_

_**Design Specifications**_

_**Power Plant: **Single GN Drive Tau_

_**Height: **19.5 metres_

_**Standard Weight: **75.6 metric tons_

_**Accommodation: **Pilot only, cockpit in torso_

_**Known Pilots: **Sergeant Desmond Hale_

_**Armaments: **Twin-barrelled GN repeating rifle (right arm), 2x beam sabre (located in hip joints), 2x NGN missile pods (located on shoulders, eight missile capacity per pod), GN Assault Shield (left arm)_

_**Systems: **Self-destruct, explosive limbic release (emergency release bolts), GN Field, core flyer_

_**Additional Notes: **Designed to counteract the fire power of both Cherudim and Seravee, the Ravager is notably heavier and slower due to its output power. Extensive use of GN Field can cause GN Drive power out. The Ravager also contains a prototype release system and escape module, the latter of which was inspired by the Innovade machines utilised by Ribbons Almark's group._

* * *

_That'll do for now._

_Bye everyone!_


	3. Phase III

_**Note: **Before I begin, I want to apologise for the delay on this story; I've been trying to contend with a lot at once, and failed miserably. I'm back for now, but don't know how long for. For now, I hope you enjoy this, and I'll see you at the end._

* * *

**Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Heaven Strike Force**

**Phase III**

With the ship on course for Lagrange 3, most of the crew set about their usual routines, with Ian and Mileina setting about repairing the Gundams and restocking them, Miss Sumeragi had another look into the enemy capabilities to improve the accuracy of her forecasts, and Lasse piloted the ship carefully into the region they were to meet the convoy at. In their quarters, Alleljuah and Marie reminisced and remembered the good times they had shared before the havoc had started. Setsuna set in the co-pilots seat alongside Lasse, knowing there was nothing he could do for 00 Gundam until they had the 0 Raiser and equipment on board Ptolemy. Lockon sat in his room, remembering his family as he did in these quiet moments, wondering what they would say if they could see what he was doing. Tieria, conflicted by the arrival of Rertyan, set about going over the information in Veda's database, rechecking all he could to make sure there was nothing else he was not aware of.

Inside the holding bays, Feldt looked over at the newest arrival with interest in her eyes. The Tactical Operator had always been curious and intrigued by the machines, especially since her parents had been pilots for the first generation of Gundams, but none quite as much as this one, and she could not pinpoint why that was.

A clatter of metal and a short curse echoed in the air. Curious, she vaulted the railing and went to investigate, finding a pair of legs jutting out from beneath the middle of Reaper X.

"Damn flux coil," came a mutter from within the machine. "Stay put, damn you!"

"Um, are you alright in there?" Feldt asked, peering into the hatch. A red-faced Rertyan looked down through the gap between the hatch edge and his body.

"Miss Grace?" he asked. "Could you show me your hands?"

"My... my hands?" she flushed, unsure what he was asking for, but showed the man anyway.

"Perfect," he nodded, slipping out of the access bay. "I need someone with small hands. I've got a thermal coupling which has dislodged itself from the rig, and now I can't reach the damned thing. Would you mind-"

"Not at all," Feldt smiled, pulling herself into the space. "I thought Mr Vashti was meant to be helping you?"

"He said something about that, but I thought the other Gundams should take priority," Rertyan explained. "Waste of time having only one Gundam fully functional, after all."

"I guess so," Feldt nodded. She looked around the compartment for a moment or two. "I can't see it."

"By the transponder matrix," Rertyan clarified. "Just underneath the coolant exchanger; it's jammed under the flux coil."

"Ah, I see now," Feldt said, shuffling upwards until her hips bumped against the edge of the hatch. "Almost... There! I got it!"

"Great," Rertyan grinned, trying hard not to stare at Feldt's lower body. "Can you fit it into port 3 for me?"

"Alright," Feldt nodded, squeezing herself a little further into the maintenance section and fitting the coupling into the port. Almost instantly, the coupling began to glow orange. "Ok, it's in! Now- ah!" Feldt yelped, looking down to where her hips met the hatch.

"Everything alright there?" Rertyan asked.

"Um, I'm... I'm fine," she replied, blushing with embarrassment. "But, um... I'm kind of caught..."

Rertyan looked up at the hatch and chuckled a little.

"Alright," he said. "Hold still and try not to hold on to anything in there."

Without another word, the Gundam Meister took hold of the Operator's ankles and pulled, extricating her from the hatch after a few moments. She looked over to him as he moved to check she was alright, realising their closeness with a blush.

"Um, th-thanks," she stammered out. Rertyan smiled, satisfied she was ok, and let go, closing the hatch.

"Thank you," he replied. "I couldn't have done it without your help. Hopefully the modifications I made will allow the power-linking to align properly." He moved to the cockpit with Feldt close behind, looking curiously at the machine. He saw her look of intrigue and smiled. "Let's test the configuration." he said, gesturing for her to come over. When she reached the cockpit, Rertyan sat her down inside it and booted the system up. The screens flickered into life, displaying the information for the Gundam. "Just bring the engine revolutions up from one hundred to three thousand, then wait for my signal and press this button." He pointed to a red button with a blue 'Y' shaped arrow, the point aimed from the single flick. "Can you do that for me?"

Feldt nodded, then began the process while Rertyan observed the rear cones. After a few minutes, he gave the signal, and she pressed the button. The change was obvious almost instantly, as the cones started to spray out a vast amount of particles, the shimmering mass of GN particles lighting the air like stars. It looked amazing to the young woman however, and she watched in awe as the air lit up and the screens displayed the work levels of the engines. That's when she saw the drive output system, much to her surprise.

"There, perfect," Rertyan smiled, hitting the kill switch. He looked to Feldt and smiled. "Anything you want to ask?"

"Who are you?" she asked. "Who do you work for?" Rertyan chuckled at this.

"I figured as much," he said, though he was not irritated by the question, as Feldt thought he might have been. "I work for a shadow organisation of Celestial Being called Fereshte. We help Veda update on new machines the Earth Sphere Federation come up with, as well as design and build prototype machines for the Meisters to use. Reaper X is one of those prototypes."

"I see," Feldt nodded, before tensing up as Rertyan leaned over her, flicking some of the switches and checking some of the systems. She blushed at how close they were to one another. "Wh-what are you doing now?"

"Hm?" Rertyan asked, still checking on things. "Just making sure the link-up is stable, that's all." He glanced to Feldt curiously. "Something wrong?"

"N-no! Not at all!" she amended quickly. "But, um... could you... show me how to work it?" Rertyan cocked an eyebrow. "S-so I can help you repair it."

"Oh, I see," Rertyan nodded. "Well, in that case, come with me." He helped her out of the cockpit for Reaper and over to the X Cloaks one. He set her in the seat and began pointed to the controls and explaining them. "Obviously you have the throttle and revolution balance controls, then the missile lock systems. Weapon rechargers are around here."

"What about this button?" Feldt asked.

"No, don't press that!" he said quickly, gripping her wrist firmly but gently. "Don't touch that one while we're on Ptolemy. Ever."

"I-I'm sorry!" Feldt said quickly. Rertyan breathed a sigh but smiled softly.

"It's ok," he replied. "That button is the manual discharge for the Death Arrow. We don't want to use that any time soon."

From above the machine, safe in the enclosure of the observation booth for hangar 3, the ship's forecaster smiled to herself as she watched the young crew member and their latest pilot. She thought back to when she first met Feldt, how uncertain she was and how introverted she had become from the disappearance of her parents, and then to how much she had grown out of her shell in the years with the crew of Ptolemy. It was good to see she was developing into a rounded but kind person.

"Miss Sumeragi," came a voice from behind her. The woman turned to see the purple-haired Innovade standing in the doorway.

"Tieria," she said, turning to face him. "Is something the matter?"

"It's about Veda," he replied. "As you know, I am integrated to Veda's systems, so I can access every portion of its database."

"Yes, I'm fully aware of this," the Tactical Forecaster nodded. "What about it?"

"I have found some information locked under a subscript in Section 8," he replied. Miss Sumeragi blinked and frowned at this. "Also, I found some information is under the same restriction in Section 7."

"Information about the Gundams, the Meisters and the GN Drives," she mused, raising her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "What could have been sealed within those files?" She turned to Tieria. "Did you find anything else?"

"There was only one thing which Fereshte has made public to Veda," Tieria admitted. "It seems the seventh GN Drive Rertyan spoke of was lost in an accident involving a prototype machine which it seems Reaper was based on. Supposedly, the machine lost control of its generation utilities and overloaded. The wreckage was never recovered, nor was the pilot; it is believed that both she and the Gundam burnt up in Earth's atmosphere."

"I see," the woman nodded morosely. "Now I understand why he did not explain; she was probably close to him."

"I also discovered that there was a prototype missing from the Celestial Being docks," Tieria went on. "It was a subframe based on Exia's original designed, but it was decided to be too costly to have a second Exia, so the Alternate Frame E3 was decommissioned. It has since disappeared from the docks."

Miss Sumeragi nodded, thinking about this information. _Were Fereshte behind its disappearance? And if so, what could they possibly have done with a decommissioned prototype?_

"Miss Sumeragi," came a voice over the intercom. "We have just reached Lagrange 3. The technical assistance convoy is in sight. Taking her in now."

"Well, that's our cue," the woman said to the Innovade as she walked out. She stopped at the doorway, just behind Tieria. "I trust you will keep this information between us?"

"Of course," Tieria replied as the forecaster left. He walked up to the window, watching as Rertyan and Feldt left the hangar before then turning his gaze on the machine they had been working on. "What else do we not know about you, Darkspire?" he wondered aloud before leaving the room to see the technicians and their 'gifts'.

* * *

"Billy!" Miss Sumeragi greeted jovially as the bespectacled brunette appeared around the corner. "Good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too, Leesa," he replied, hugging her close.

Since the end of the Innovade war concluded, when he realised how much of a mistake he had made in acting with spite towards Miss Sumeragi, Billy had aligned himself with Celestial Being, particularly the mobile suit research and development side of affairs, to make amends for his actions, and also to end the tyranny of the Earth Sphere Federation, or rather that of Heaven Strike Force. Linda Vashti smiled at the young duo as they embraced, turning her attention to her own husband and their daughter.

"Mum!" Mileina called, wrapping her arms around the older woman's torso. Linda smiled, hugging her daughter with one arm and gesturing for Ian to join them with the other.

"I missed you both so much," she smiled, holding her family close.

"We missed you too, mum," Mileina smiled back.

"I can see," Linda laughed. After a moments longer, she let go of them, noticing the others had arrived to the dock. "Hello again, everyone." Her eyes fell on Rertyan, or, more accurately, his left shoulder, which bore a blue shield with an F emblazoned within it, a yellow halo encircling the F above the lower flick, and a pair of yellow wings flanking the shield. "You're with Fereshte?" she enquired. Rertyan looked up and nodded.

"That's right," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because we just heard the transmission," Linda replied. The blank looks told her the crew had not heard it. "The Fereshte base; it detected a large Heaven Strike Force fleet inbound for its location." Rertyan's eyes widened. "There are eleven ships headed for it; five carrier class, each holding thirty to fifty mobile suits and armours, three bombardment-type destroyers, the HSF Mothership, the Smirnov, and two frigate-class ships. You had not heard?"

"No," Rertyan growled, turning to Miss Sumeragi. "I'm heading out now; finish transferring the equipment, then meet me there." He went to go for the door, but Miss Sumeragi grabbed his arm.

"No you don't," she said firmly. "I understand your desire to protect them, but we can't launch yet. Be paitient; I'll send Reaper X and Archer Arios as soon as we are ready. The other Gundams can catch up when we get there." Rertyan glowered at this, but accepted it.

"In that case, let me help until then," he said. "I am proficient as a mobile suit technician; I can help install the extra equipment."

"Alright then," Miss Sumeragi nodded. "Let's hurry and get ready; we can not afford to lose any allies."

"Right," said the group as they started their preparations. Ian turned to his wife as they others moved off.

"How long have you known about Fereshte?" he asked curiously. She winked at him.

"Where do you think I was at the start of my time in Celestial Being?" she replied coyly. He simply chuckled as he went about his duties.

While the Gundam Meisters tended to their machines, Mileina, Ian and Linda brought the new equipment on board and readied it, Feldt returned to the bridge to take inventory of the items, and Billy and Miss Sumeragi went to the briefing room. Once they reached it, Miss Sumeragi turned to her boyfriend with a serious look.

"Is everything ready?" she asked him. He took out a data stick and plugged it into the terminal.

"Indeed they are," he replied, showing the schematics and diagnostics of the latest equipment. "We brought them as requested; GNR-010/XN, the XN Raiser; GNR-020/C, the Cherudim Boost Wing; GN-009/T, the Seraphim Trinity. We were able to salvage most of the wreckage of Seraphim and the 0 Raiser for these, and we cannibalised the remaining parts from the 0 Gundam and enemy units left in the area to improve them. The Boost Wing was based on the 0 Raiser and reconfigured for use on the Cherudim. In theory, it should increase the response rate and energy efficiency of Cherudim by sixty percent, but we won't know for sure until we test it."

"Excellent," Miss Sumeragi nodded. "I'm glad you are with us now, Billy; since you joined us, the Earth Sphere Federation has been producing new models thirty percent less frequently, and we are finally able to outmatch them for the first time since the GN Drive Tau was released to them."

"Yes, it certainly is easier for Celestial Being," Billy agreed. The image of the Seraphim Trinity appeared on the screen.

"So, what's different between the original Seraphim and this version?" Miss Sumeragi asked with interest.

"The Trinity has two additional capabilities compared to Seraphim," Billy explained. "It has a quantum bit system we are calling the Cannon Bit, which are the two additional GN Cannons mounted on it, and an improved power system which decreases the recharge time between bursts. Hopefully, this new system will allow Seravee to be defended at all times." Miss Sumeragi nuzzled against Billy as he spoke, bringing a warm smile to his face. "You missed me, huh?"

"Of course," she replied. "You missed me too, right?"

"Of course I did," he replied, laying a soft kiss on her forehead.

* * *

While the Seraphim Trinity was brought aboard to be integrated to Seravee, the assault containers for the Boost Wing and XN Raiser were both attached to the hull, as there was not enough space for the two additional machines. Setsuna glanced out of the cockpit's all-round display, watching Marie and Alleljuah work on Arios, restocking the missiles and modifying the balancing of the machine. For the first time in a long while, he found himself thinking of Saji Crossroad and Louise Halevy, and how they were moving on with their lives; after the end of the Innovade War, Saji had expressed an interest in cutting his ties with Celestial Being and moving on with life in the Earth Sphere with Louise, so they had been placed inside the salvaged escape pod from the Regnant and launched towards the nearest orbital elevator. They had not heard anything from them since then, but Setsuna still found himself wondering if they had been safe after that. He soon forgot about this thought, however, and went back to calibrating the weapons systems and control modules for the battle ahead.

In the second storage deck, Tieria and Mileina set about installing and checking Seraphim Trinity with Seravee. The brunette smiled a little as she glanced over to the Innovade as he worked. She had hidden it well, but since meeting Tieria, she had held a soft spot for the Meister, and now was no change to that fact. She smiled meekly as she risked another glance. He looked down at her from his position at the top coupling to Seravee.

"Something wrong?" he asked, oblivious to her intentions. Mileina blushed and looked away.

"N-nothing," she replied quickly.

Tieria cocked an eyebrow at this response, but looked away and did not press the matter. Behind Seravee, from the back of Cherudim, Lockon chuckled.

"Honestly," he said. "The guy's clueless. You'd think after three years he would have figured it out, but I guess not." Rertyan, who was working on the fixings alongside Lockon, looked over at the two ahead of them.

"You're right," he replied. "Guess being linked to Veda makes a guy blind, huh?" Lockon laughed at this.

"You know, for a shady guy in a shady organisation, you're not that bad," he said. Rertyan smiled.

"Thanks, I think." He shrugged it off as his connection was completed. "There. With this, the Boost Wing's starboard engines will link directly to Cherudims." He looked over to Lockon as he finished his connection. "Hopefully this will give you an edge if they reproduced the Gadessa."

"Yeah, the damned thing did have me out-gunned, huh?" Lockon shrugged. He paused. "Say, did you see Feldt before the ships docked? She seemed a little flustered."

"She did?" Rertyan frowned. "She seemed fine when I was showing her how to use the X Cloak." Lockon was staring at him now, making him cut the thought short. "What?"

"Why were you showing Feldt that?" he asked bluntly.

"Oh, well, she helped me fix the power-linkages in Reaper X, and she wanted to know how to pilot it if the need ever comes," Rertyan shrugged. "It's not that big a deal." Lockon sighed, his hand on his forehead and hip as he shook his head.

"Tieria may be blind," he said plainly. "But I don't think he's the only one." Rertyan scoffed.

"Come off it," he replied, double-checking his work. "She's not interested in me; Feldt barely knows me."

"And yet you showed her how to use your support machine," Lockon added. "Come on, don't tell me there's nothing there."

Rertyan stopped, thinking about this, but was cut off by the intercom.

"Ready Arios, GN Archer and Reaper X for launch," it called over the decks. "Ptolemaios II, prepare for anti-ship and anti-mobile suit combat!"

"Well, they're playing my song," Rertyan grinned, removing TEX from the Karel it was in. "Later, Lockon." The Meister was gone before he could say another word.

* * *

The Meisters strapped into their machines, preparing for launch as the catapults unfurled from the launch decks on deck 1 and 3.

"Arios Gundam and GN Archer in position," Feldt confirmed, bringing the catapult charge level up. "Voltages stable at 750 and 450. Timing transferred to mobile units."

"Roger," Alleljuah confirmed, disengaging his drive repause. "Alleljuah Haptism, Arios; taking off!" The winged Gundam shot out of the deck 1 catapult instantly.

"Marie Parfecy, GN Archer, I'm heading out!" Marie confirmed, launching after Arios. No sooner had she launched did the two machines dock. "Power coupling successful."

"Archer Arios, heading to target," Alleljuah informed the ship as they headed off.

"Stick to the plan," Miss Sumeragi said into the comms. "There will be approximately a five minute window where Archer Arios and Reaper X will be the only machines on site, so stay on your toes."

"Roger that," the two supersoldiers nodded. Feldt typed in a command into the console.

"Bringing Reaper X to launch deck," she said, altering the launch parameters. "Voltage increased to 900. Timing transferred to Mr Darkspire." A light sigh came over the communication link.

"Miss Grace, could you just call me Rertyan?" he asked, activating his engines. "Mr Darkspire sounds too weird." He looked up. "Reaper X, Rertyan Darkspire and TEX, obscuring the light!"

The latest addition to the Ptolemy's crew shot off, the dual engines of the X Cloak allowing it to catch up to Archer Arios quickly. Alleljuah appeared in the call window to Rertyan's right.

"Remember the plan," the super soldier said. "We will fight off the advanced troops while Ptolemy catches up to us, then execute plan B7." Rertyan rolled his neck. "Can you keep up to Arios?"

"I think you'll be the one doing the catching up," Rertyan replied, pressed a few buttons, then the red button he had had Feldt press. "Disengaging primary engine repause. Full thrust ahead." He looked to his left, where TEX's image had appeared. "TEX, fire the boosters; we can't waste time like this."

"Hey! What are you-" Alleljuah's words fell on deaf ears as the two engines on Reaper X's back fired, launching the machine forward faster than Arios could muster. "Dammit. Ptolemy, this is Archer Arios; Reaper X just accelerated beyond our limit."

"What?" Lasse exclaimed, shocked by this. "I thought Arios was the fastest Gundam we had."

"It was," Miss Sumeragi replied, gritting her teeth. "Damn fool. Alleljuah, switch to plan C2, divert all power to thrusters until you reach the battle zone."

"Roger that," Alleljuah nodded, following his instructions. Miss Sumeragi turned to the helmsman.

"Lasse, take us to full thrust," she ordered. "We have to get there as quickly as we can."

"Yes, Miss Sumeragi," he nodded, accelerating the ship. The tactical forecaster's gaze fell on the diminishing trails from Reaper X and Archer Arios as they sped away.

_Dammit, Rertyan,_ she cursed in her thoughts. _What else did you not tell us?_

* * *

_Hope you liked that, everyone. I'm sorry for the delays to posting; exams are a nuisance, but they take priority, I'm afraid._

_I'll try to post as frequently as I can, but don't expect anything major._

_As I said last time, here is the information for another machine; this time, we will cover the Boost Wing and XN Raiser;_

* * *

_**Model GNR-010/XN**_

_**Nickname: **XN Raiser_

_**Manufacturer: **Celestial Being_

_**Operator(s): **Celestial Being_

_**Based on: **0 Raiser_

_**Design Specifications**_

_**Power Plant: **Large GN Condenser_

_**Height: **9.8 Metres_

_**Standard Weight: **40.3 Metric Tons_

_**Accommodation: **Single pilot cockpit only w/ Haro docking port_

_**Known Pilots: **Red Haro_

_**Armaments: **2x GN Beam Machinegun, 4x 4-tube missile launcher, GN Buster Sword II, optional 2x 3-tube missile launcher_

_**Systems: **Trans-Am and Twin Drive balancers, Quantisation support, advanced engine management_

_**Additional Notes: **Based off of the damaged 0 Raiser, the XN Raiser was designed to improve 00 Gundam further than the 0 Raiser managed. The additional bladed foils on the back add to 00's arsenal of swords, while also making the XN Raiser more streamlined. Only compatible with 00 Gundam, though planned to be used for all Gundams initially._

* * *

_**Model GNR-020/C**_

_**Nickname: **Boost Wing_

_**Manufacturer: **Celestial Being_

_**Operator(s): **Celestial Being_

_**Based on: **0 Raiser_

_**Design Specifications**_

_**Power Plant: **2x GN Condenser, 6x GN Generators_

_**Height: **10.3 Metres_

_**Standard Weight: **38.7 Metric Tons_

_**Accommodation: **Single pilot cockpit only w/ Haro docking port_

_**Known Pilots: **Blue Haro_

_**Armaments: **4x Shield Bits, 2x GN Beam Rifle_

_**Systems: **Mid-air transformation, bit control system, advanced energy control module, advanced targeting system_

_**Additional Notes: **Designed solely for Cherudim to improve stability and power balancing in battle, the Boost Wing boasts a huge amount of power for very little weaponry. When docked, the Boost Wing gives Cherudim an improved sight system and higher level of power available at any one moment, resulting in faster fire rate and higher power shots. Can be equipped with an additional GN Rifle II for Cherudim._

* * *

_Bye, everyone!_


End file.
